Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080097
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Did we say state park? Well, of course it's a state park. Explore is also, like the Hotel Roanoke rehab, a public-private partnership. State money bought the park land, a good investment whatever becomes of Explore. Now the park is run by a nonprofit group, and private money is being solicited for the land's development - albeit slowly and with difficulty. Expect more public-private partnerships in the future.
The addition of a restaurant could mean a lot to the fledgling park. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a national treasure, but people driving along it for hundreds of miles can become desperate for a break. With a spur road about to be built from the parkway to the park, Explore can expect to attract many more visitors with the restaurant than it could without. Especially if there's a sign.
In the 18th century, the Brugh Tavern was a stop along the Great Wagon Trail through the Virginia Valley. One day, presumably before the next century, it can be a stop again for tourists, and for locals in search of a discovery.
The tavern deal marks another milestone in Explore's struggle to develop visitor attractions while remaining loyal to the place and its history. The park is a long way from the theme-attraction concept that at one time so offended environmental and historical purists. Expect more situations in which a development's direction depends on someone's willingness to pay for it.
That someone needn't be private benefactors alone. Unhelpful politics at local and state levels - rivalry among local governments and egos in one case, rivalry between political parties and egos in the other case - remains a big reason why Roanoke Valley municipalities and Richmond don't pony up more for developing Explore. Expect politics to continue playing a role.
Still, if dependence on someone's willingness to pay can be at times frustrating, it is also one of the advantages of public-private partnerships. In the case of the Brugh Tavern, the someones willing to pay very generous sums are the Horace Fralin Charitable Trust ($750,000) and the Beirne Carter Foundation ($250,000).
These are not national foundations. They're what local entrepreneurs have left us. Fralin was a Roanoke civic leader and developer, Carter a successful businessman. Neither man is alive. Don't expect much more giving of this sort or size unless our region can nurture future Fralins and Carters.
by CNB